ESEA final vote approaching

December 1, 2015

The final text of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which would reauthorize ESEA, was released Monday. The Washington Post reports that the bill, described as a “true compromise,” would “largely shift authority from the federal government to states and districts,” as states will be able to set their own academic goals, design their own systems for judging schools and what should be done for schools that struggle. The bill “attempts to thread the needle between conservatives” who want smaller federal control in education and civil rights groups “who worry that some states…will obfuscate or ignore the poor performance of schools serving low-income and minority students.” The legislation won endorsements on Monday from the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National PTA and the National Governors Association, along with the nation’s two largest teachers unions. The House is “widely expected” to vote on the bill “as early as Thursday.”